bromelain is a classic anti inflammatory- that should help with your acne, I always take that with quercitin when I have a laser procedure ...I've never had a problem with it, but hey one thing we know is that we all react differently to things, so if you think it's an issue then stop taking it

other anti inflammatories like tumeric may be worth a shot

it is so frustrating, but keep up the fight!

I've been taking bromelain to heal a little from surgery and it SEEMS to have helped, but it could be my imagination.

I'm worried because I'd like to continue taking it because even though I take doxycycline, use topical treatments, and have been doing okay this year with acne--the stuff is breaking me out nastily.

It never fails with natural products that seem to help with another non-acne problem; I break out in places I normally don't, like the jaw line; old pimples don't heal; the new ones are painful. I deal with follicular acne on a good day (whiteheads, small papules), have dealt with serious cystic hormonal acne for 10 years and finally seemed to be getting a break, so I've been using antibiotics like monocycline and Mario Badescu for the occasional cyst, but I really would like to prevent scar tissue formation, and that means taking a supplemnt. (I can't take prednisone anymore--that's the other solution. It finally started making me feel awful and made hair growth on my face/body much worse.) I know it's supposed to help with acne, but it never fails--neem, arnica, horsetail, products with biotin, coq10, and saw palmetto have similar given me strange breakouts so I would have to discontinue them after a week. It's so frustrating.

Is there something I can take, like B5, to help with this? Something that won't add more side effects like joint pain, gas, and hair breakage/loss, another problem I'm strugglng with?

What can I do?

Have you had a Heidelberg test for your stomach?

Have you had a Heidelberg test for your stomach?

 

I've been taking bromelain to heal a little from surgery and it SEEMS to have helped, but it could be my imagination.

I'm worried because I'd like to continue taking it because even though I take doxycycline, use topical treatments, and have been doing okay this year with acne--the stuff is breaking me out nastily.

It never fails with natural products that seem to help with another non-acne problem; I break out in places I normally don't, like the jaw line; old pimples don't heal; the new ones are painful. I deal with follicular acne on a good day (whiteheads, small papules), have dealt with serious cystic hormonal acne for 10 years and finally seemed to be getting a break, so I've been using antibiotics like monocycline and Mario Badescu for the occasional cyst, but I really would like to prevent scar tissue formation, and that means taking a supplemnt. (I can't take prednisone anymore--that's the other solution. It finally started making me feel awful and made hair growth on my face/body much worse.) I know it's supposed to help with acne, but it never fails--neem, arnica, horsetail, products with biotin, coq10, and saw palmetto have similar given me strange breakouts so I would have to discontinue them after a week. It's so frustrating.

Is there something I can take, like B5, to help with this? Something that won't add more side effects like joint pain, gas, and hair breakage/loss, another problem I'm strugglng with?

What can I do?

Have you had a Heidelberg test for your stomach?

I agree with what greengables suggested, especially since you are taking antibiotics. Stomach acid can be a problem. Actually greengables recommended to me HCl for low stomach acid, and it's the second day I have been taking it so I can't really tell if it's working at this point. But if you have high stomach acid, you'll get heartburn when you take HCl and then you'll know that you don't need it.

For body hair, I recommend myo-inositol...I made a post about it on the hormonal forum. It helps with so many things, including body/facial hair, because it's an antiandrogen. And no side effects. Clinical study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18854115

You may want to replace bromelain with quercetin and see if that works too. It could also be the capsule ingredients in the bromelain that break you out (e.g. colorings, gelatin), not necessarily the bromelain itself.

Many people in the process of aging develop various stages of hypochlorhydria (lack of adequate production of HCl by certain stomach cells). However, many young people also develop this problem. Typical signs of low stomach acidity include: gas, belching, bloating, osteoporosis, mineral deficiency (like iron and zinc), auto-immune disease, diabetes, vitaligo, rosacea, heartburn, and others.

More info on Heidelberg test here.

Anyone can recommend the test for you, I had a general family practitioner recommend it, but your best bet would be a gastroenterologist.